In recent years, the applications for laparoscopic surgery have expanded to include many different procedures. A benefit of laparoscopic operations is the relatively quick recovery period experienced by patients, due to the small incisions that are made in the body. These incisions reduce the trauma and the required healing compared to traditional surgery. Laparoscopic tubes and sleeves with diameters on the order of 10 millimeters are inserted through the incisions to aid in accessing the tissue in the body cavity. Various instruments and a video camera are typically directed through the laparoscopic sleeves for performing and monitoring the surgical steps.
A particular concern in laparoscopic surgery is the transporting of tissues and other mass that are cut away or retrieved during the surgery. While moving, manipulating, or cutting up the mass within the body cavity, pieces of infected or cancerous mass, blood, bile, and other liquids may escape into the body cavity and pose infection problems or other complications. It is desirable to contain these materials in a bag or similar enclosure within the body cavity before removal to minimize the risk of infection or other complications. It is important that the containment of the materials be accomplished as quickly as possible with minimal disturbance to the surgical site.
Instruments with membranes or bags have been designed in an attempt to avoid the complications associated with the removal of tissue during laparoscopic surgery. One device is the pouch disclosed in Hasson, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,687), which has a membrane circumferentially and concentrically attached to a conduit and has a concentric, distal entryway into the membrane. This membrane is closed with a drawstring with the help of a rigid extension separate from the membrane that extends forward of the conduit. Washington, deceased, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,371) discloses a device with a wire forming a double loop and holding a bag at the end of a tube. The wire ends are pushed and pulled to expand and contract the radius of the loop to affect the size of the bag opening. In Wilk (U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,867), a pusher rod is used to push into the body cavity a membrane having attached strings that extend out of the laparoscopic sleeve. A forceps inserted through another laparoscopic sleeve is used to manipulate the membrane and place it around a piece of tissue. The strings are then pulled to remove the membrane from the body cavity. Demeter (U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,435) discloses a device with a first catheter having several struts extending forward and a second, inner catheter attached to a sheath that has a distal opening attached to the struts. By twisting the second catheter relative to the first, the sheath twists inside the struts to close the distal end of the sheath.
These devices tend to be cumbersome and time consuming to use. They cannot be operated with one hand and they typically require a second surgical instrument inserted through another laparoscopic sleeve to open and/or close the bag or membrane. Further, these devices do not provide for an adjustable opening that may be securely sealed upon containment of the object materials.